Mystery Dungeon: Truths and Lies
by ViraLayton
Summary: Sphynx, our main human to Pokemon protagonist, and friends Cynder and Bolt have been experiencing some mysterious and unsettling events. Unbeknownst to them, the world and fabric of reality is crumbling before their very eyes. They must fight time to try and save not only their universe, but themselves as well. Will they though, that is the question. Helped by TatOneVodkaBottle
1. Sphynx

Quiet sobbing.

That lone sound filled the room of a house, a bedroom actually. From the small, blue room, in a large bed in the corner a man lay, hidden under the worn blankets. His red and yellow heterochromic eyes were shut tightly, his obsidian hair pulling out of his ponytail and spilling across his face. His body quivered and shook as he breathed in between his sobs. He wiped his eyes and incoherent words twitched from his lips. Only a few would be understandable, such as _weak _and_ somewhere else_. Bandages on his arms and torso fell loose, blackened blisters and scars underneath. He rubbed his eyes once more, curling up and hugging himself. He tried to listen, hearing only the patter of rain against the side of his house. His arms fell limp as the rain pounded harder and harder, making the average person wonder how he could fall asleep in such weather. And that question can be answered simply with he was tired. Tired physically, and tired of being in the realm of reality. The man felt alone and unneeded, and sleep seemed only fitting to him that he do.

In his sleep, however, he was met with an unpeaceful find. He was suspended in air, a lone blackened figure in a never ending world of white. He spun around, looking for something to calm his mind and bring him out. Instead he was met with a large shadow, many times larger than himself and much more dangerous in appearance. The only visible feature was its eyes, which glowed white and flickered occasionally to red. The man backed up, only to have white hot pain shoot through his limbs. He screamed, falling to his knees hard and toppling over onto his side. His shadowy self slowly turned from black to gray, fading in with the blatant colours around him.

And all the while, somewhere completely different, sat a Cyndaquil, it staring out a window. The room it was in was dark, the only light illuminating from the Pokemon itself. The room in and of itself was extremely large but very dank and cold, carved into the side of a cliff by the small creature and some friends. A stump with assorted papers sat in the middle of the room, with lanterns in the rooms corners. A piece of furniture which could pass for a couch sat against a windowless wall and a cork board above it. In the opposite corners of the room sat three beds, apart from each other and each larger than the other nearest it, along with other assorted objects around. A window had been carved into a outwards cliff-side wall, the paned portal looking out into the ocean and a small calm beach next to it. The moon was a crescent that night he would have noted, had it not been for the storm clouds covering every inch of the sky. The rain was really beating down that night. He sighed and looked down, the fire on him barely sputtering out a thing. He waddled over to the bed in the corner and flopped onto it and under the blanket. With a sad sigh, he wished himself goodnight and fell asleep. From the corner of the room a Pikachu had been watching, his ears flattened upon hearing the Cyndaquil's sigh. His eyes shot down to play with the blue scarf around his neck, which he gently removed and placed next to his pillow. He himself laid down, sleep overcoming him as well.

The sun gleamed through the window, right onto the Cyndaquil's eyes. He gave an annoyed squeak and rolled over, annoyed that the light had woken him up for no other reason than that it could. The Pikachu, however, had been awake and bounced over to him, nudging him. His ears perked up.

"Sir?" He whispered, then louder he said, "Cynder, sir?"

Cynder swatted at him "Bolt, I am sleeping, go away." He grumbled, making angry noises as he moved away from him.

The Pikachu refrained from laughing as best he could, "Its almost noon, and remember you said you had something to go to? If you can't go I'll have to..." He said, a cheeky smile donning itself upon his face.

This immediately gained a response from the Cyndaquil, who shot up and gave him a look, "No. Bolt you aren't ready for going to dungeons yet. Why on earth you would thing that, I don't know." He got up and snagged a yellow scarf and a bag off a shelf, placing them upon himself and stretching. "I'll be back Bolt. Stay out of trouble."

Bolt nodded, "Sir, yes-sir. I'll just sit in my bed and read as you usually let me do" He scampered over to his bed and tugged a book off the shelf above his bed, opening it and immediately beginning to read.

Cynder gave a quiet laugh and walked out the door, scampering up the stairs carved into the stone. For a brief moment he looked over the cliff's edge, smiling at the beautiful view before quickly heading to the dungeon. He quickly paraded through town, not bothering to pay anyone any attention. He quickly turned towards a grassy field, a path worn down it by the Pokemon who had visited in the many many years before. It led down the winding cliff side to the beach.

The Pokemon smiles and looked around. The beach was small, made of lovely rolling sand dunes that gently slope into the beautiful calm water. Occasionally dotting the beaches shoreline were rocks of any and all shapes and sizes, one even looking almost like a ball with a button on it, a peculiar thought to him. He noted that it was surprisingly calm for the storm that had occurred the previous night. Cliffs rose out of the water on either side of it, one side being where his home was. As he walked along the edge of the beach, he duly the lone palm tree, large and in charge in its spot in the middle of the sand. Cynder was so enthralled in the glory of it all that he forgot to watch where he was going and tripped, yelping as he landed face first into the sand. The wind seemed to laugh at him. He snarled, angrily hopping up and brushing the sand off of himself. He turned to look at what he tripped over and was astonished at what he found.

Lying face down in the ground was a Shinx, its fur damp and matted from the sand and water, making scared noises and having its eyes tightly shut. Cynder grabbed a twig from his bag, gently poking the Pokemon. "Hello?" The Shinx's eyes fluttered open briefly before closing heavily again. Cynder gave a sound cry, dropping the stick to run over to him. "Hey, are you alright?" He yelled, shaking the pokemon in hopes to get him to awaken.

His efforts were met with success, as the newcomer opened his eyes finally and sat up. Cynder's eyes quickly glanced over him, seeing a pretty much normal Shinx, sans the presence of darker tones of fur and especially glinting eyes. The pokemon shook its head feverishly, the blue fur standing straight on end and static bouncing around them both. His eyes darted around, confused and finally landing onto Cynder. "Who're you?" He asked, voice shaken from his confusion.

Cynder straightened and brushed some sand off his snout, "My name is Cynder, and I'm a Pokemon Explorer and Rescuer." He squinted, "That's odd. I've never seen a Shinx around here before..."

The blue pokemon gave a confused snort, "Shinx? That's ridiculous..." He glanced down and let out an ear-piercing shriek. Now discovering that he indeed was the Pokemon Cynder was talking about, he let out a loud sigh, flopping heavily into the sand.

Cynder squeaked, looking at the sky to note that clouds were beginning to roll in. "So, uhm... Who are you?" he inquired.

The Shinx looked at him, rubbing his snout with his paws. He thought for a moment, then shrugged, "I think my name is Sphynx." He muttered. He pushed himself back up and sighed.

The other pokemon let out another squeak, "What do you mean you think?"

"I mean I'm not sure if that's my name or not." He snapped. The Cyndaquil stepped back.

"Okay, okay jeez. I'm sorry. You seem a bit strange for a pokemon, Shinx or not..."

Sphynx sighed, "I'm sorry, alright? I'm just a bit confused... I can't seem to remember anything other than a small few details..."

Cynder nodded, "So you somehow gained amnesia?" He adjusted his bag and sat down in front of him.

Sphynx's ears flattened. "Well not entirely... I'm pretty sure my name is Sphynx, and that I'm not a pokemon" He muttered. "If what memory I have is right, I'm a human."

There was a dead silence between them, the only other sounds were the quiet whisper of the waves crashing against the cliffs and the rocks on the beach. Cynder's expression read one of confusion and he shook his head to clear his mind. "Human?" Sphynx nodded. "That's not possible, they don't exist here..."

"But it's true..." Sphynx whined, looking down.

Cynder fumbled for his words, "N-No I didn't mean I didn't believe you! ...Its j-just that its weird and... I've never heard of a pokemon turning human!" He sighed, a bit of smoke coming out of his mouth.

"Look," Sphynx started, "If you don't believe me, I'll just stay here and you can go do what you wanted to do." He flopped down roughly, sand billowing out around him and into his abnormally dark fur.

Cynder spoke again, "I believe you actually. I can tell when a pokemon is lying or not. Its a strange talent I acquired." He shrugged. Briefly, he smiled for a moment, "I have an idea, actually." Sphynx sat up and looked at him. The other pokemon pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and held it out towards him, "I'm supposed to be going to look for this pokemon, and maybe since you have nothing to do, you could come and help me? Its not to particularly hard, just a rescue mission." The image on the paper was of a Linoone, with the caption reading _Please help find my brother! _In bold text.

Sphynx looked at him, "I suppose I could... I have nothing better to do."

Cynder smiled. "Great! Lets go then!" He bounced over to a cave with the Shinx right behind him. "This is Craggy Cave, and he's in here. Lets go"

They entered the wet cavern, quietly padding through the thin level of water in there, "What is this place?" Sphynx enquired.

Cynder began to explain, "This is a dungeon. Its a location in this world where when you enter it, its never the same way it was before, it always changes and so do the pokemon in it, though the bottom floor tends to stay the same sometimes." He glanced at the paper, "The Linoone is at the very bottom level it says. He apparently got lost chasing something... Well that's what we're here for." They walked slowly, bumping into the occasional pokemon that Cynder handled with ease, Sphynx having some issues with them though. He figured Cynder was just more experienced and stronger than he was though, so he brushed it off. As they walked, droplets of water fell from above floors, landing on their noses and making Cynder cringe from dislike of being there. They descended down small flights of stairs, water dripping off them into miniature waterfalls, the gradual increasing darkness making them slowly appear more and more grim. From time to time they would battle another pokemon, but Sphynx would still stay back as he did earlier. All the while Cynder picked up the occasional item that he would find, stuffing it in the bag and keeping his pace the entire time.

They came to the final staircase, Cynder leading the way down once again. It was a large stretch of sand surrounded by an underwater cove. Water still leaked through from the above floors, though more heavily than before, making the place seem to gleam and glisten with silver light. A treasure chest lay half buried in the sand, its red outside faded and peeling, revealing that its inside was empty. At the very end of the sandbar sat a pokemon, with thin and straight stripes coloured cream and brown. He turned to look at them, a hopeful gleam in his eyes. As he walked to them, however, he stumbled and fell flat on his face. Upon closer inspection of him, Sphynx noted something tied around his wrists, possibly some sort of cuffs. "Cynder...? I think-"

Cynder, too overjoyed to find the pokemon waddled over to him, "There you are! I'm Cynder, Pokemon Explorer and Rescuer! And I'm he-" Sphynx yowled, causing the other to jump. "What is it? I'm trying to be heroic!"

"I think it's a trap!" The Shinx shouted.

A dark laugh filled the cavern and several pokemon started to come onto the sand from the water. Arbok, Koffing, and Zubat all came up, nine of them in a perfect circle. Sphynx and Cynder backed up against each other, the Linoone near them.

An Arbok hissed, laughing as he did so, "Well well, looks like we have company, don't we?"

Cynder seemed slightly panicked, "No, no company here, just some Rescuers doing their mission! Now if you'll excuse us-"

A Zubat flew close to his face, "I don't think so, pretty boy" She sneered, beating him back with the gusts of wind from her wings. Cynder yelped, covering his eyes and backing up more. The circle of purple pokemon slowly started to circle them, throwing sludge balls and toxic thorns at them at the same time. Cynder squeaked as a slimy ball hit him in the face. They kept circling them, gradually turning to just outright attacking them, for no reason from what Sphynx gathered in about two seconds. They continued for minutes before Sphynx barrelled into one as hard as he could, pinning the Koffing down and biting it square in the face. It screeched and freed itself from him, hightailed it back into the water. The rest turned to look at Sphynx, who was growling, snarling and seething with anger. Cynder locked eyes with him, both getting the signal. Cynder backed away, dragging Linoone with him and both himself and Sphynx stood in front of him. They glared at them.

"Its not very nice to pick on defenceless pokemon!" Cynder yelled, opening his mouth to let out a critical Flamethrower move, scorching a Zubat an an Arbok, sending them both back into the water with a bad burn. Sphynx lunged at another Koffing, biting it multiple times before it attempted a Sludge bomb on him. It missed and Sphynx bit it once more, sending it running back. Cynder let out another burst of flame towards the Arbok who hissed and hurled itself towards him. He beat it off with another Flamethrower, backing up again. Sphynx growled, both him and Cynder charging at the remaining Koffing and Arbok. In fear of getting hurt or ruining their beautiful image, they both made a mad dash to the water as well, leaving them against the She-Zubat and the other who hovered next to her. They both started flapping their wings hard, making a double Gust to try to propel them back in an attempt to end the battle. Sphynx growled, his fur zapping and he took a heavy step forward. He held his ground as Cynder watched carefully, slowly skidding back. The Shinx kept his weight on his paws, getting closer even as the Zubats increased their wind intensity. One flew off, nosediving straight for the Linoone. Cynder jumped in its way and formed a large boulder between his paws. He launched it at the Zubat, knocking her screeching back into the water but also launching himself back against the stairs, causing a loud yelp of pain.

The She-Zubat was infuriated, diving straight and suddenly at Sphynx and right towards his face. He shrieked, the electricity that had been off his fur suddenly shooting from his open mouth and sending the pokemon into the water. He panted and proceeded to flop down. "Well..." He sighed, "That was... Something... Else..." He said between breaths.

Cynder nodded, burning off the bands around the wrists of the Linoone. "Would you like us to return you to your brother?"

Linoone nodded, "Thank you so very much for rescuing me, I probably would have been stuck down here for a long time..."

"Its no problem at all! Now lets get you back to your brother." Cynder said with a smile on his face and in his voice. They started to walk towards the stairs before he looked back at Sphynx, "Coming?"

Sphynx pulled himself up and nodded. He ran after them, following them up to the surface and back to town. He looked around, eyes wide and in admiration. He looked at Cynder and Linoone, smiling to himself that he had helped save the pokemon who was being reunited with his brother. A Zigzagoon ran over to the Linoone, tackling it in a sort of hug and they talked quickly and over each other, worried and happy that they were reunited. Sphynx sat at Cynder's side.

The Zigzagoon looked at them, "Thank you so much for saving my brother! I can't give you enough to thank you but I can give you this!" He scampered over to them and handed them a couple of Pokecoins and a purple scarf. "Thank you so much!"

Cynder smiled, "You're welcome!" he said with a cheery tone. He looked at the sky and noted that the sun had almost set and the clouds were thick in the sky, "I think we should get going, goodbye!" The pokemon waved them off and Cynder looked at Sphynx, "I figure you can stay with me if you want, since you don't have a place to stay."

Sphynx looked at him, "Are you sure?"

Cynder nodded, "Yeah. Follow me!" He bounced off, Sphynx right behind him. They raced through town, not giving the Shinx enough time to look around. They arrived to a hole in the ground, covered by a wooden door with a glass window in it. Cynder pulled it open, allowing Sphynx to enter and he to follow.

The blue pokemon looked around, eyes partially wide, "This is impressive."

Cynder beamed, "Thank you! Me and a few other pokemon carved it out ourselves. It didn't take too long surprisingly."

"Its nice." Sphynx said.

Bolt bounced over to them, happy as usual, "Welcome back Cynder!"

Cynder nodded, "Sphynx, this is Bolt. He lives with me and is kinda a rescuer, but he's not that good at missions..." He yawned, stretching and allowing his flame to sputter out. Sphynx glanced outside, jumping as lightning and thunder suddenly cracked across the sky. Cynder laughed, setting his bag down and taking the scarf off. "Its weird. Ever since a few weeks ago, we've been getting some really weird freak storms. It could be sunny as can be and then moments later, Thunderstorm." He shrugged and waddled over to his bed. He jumped into it and Bolt ran to his. "You can take the empty bed there Sphynx. Sorry its so small, but it fit there so that's where it went." He yawned once more and soon drifted off to sleep.

"I don't really know you, but you seem nice! Goodnight Sphynx!" Bolt whisper yelled. He laid down in his bed and soon was asleep as well, leaving the lone Shinx with his thoughts. He laid there, wondering where his memories went and what could've happened to him. Where he was and who he was. Did he have family and friends? He closed his eyes tightly, trying to remember but only succeeded in giving himself a headache. He shrugged and rolled onto his side, but heard something clank from around his neck. He looked at it, noting that it was a golden medallion with something embossed on it. He would have inspected it closer, but his eyelids were heavy and drooping, making him eventually sleep.

He was sound asleep that night, and he dreamt of a large shadow pokemon looming over himself, its eyes only visible on it. It roared at him, causing his to wake with a start. His heart pounded loudly, even if the dream was extremely brief. He looked at the window, it still dark and rain still pounding hard and violent against it, lightning flashing and thunder sounding. He sighed upsetly and closed his eyes, returning back to a dreamless sleep.

_**0-o-0**_

_As a note, these characters are of a story/role play that me and my friend TatOneVodkaBottle are co-writing over messages._

**~ViraLayton**


	2. Bolt

_**How do we judge that something has worth? Money is only paper and metal that was deemed as important.**_

_**0-o-0**_

Sphynx yawned, sitting up to find a pair of eyes surrounded by yellow fur staring at him. He sat up, bumping his head against the creatures and falling backwards with a yelp. He rubbed his forehead, muttering in pain as he looked at Bolt. "Are you alright Sphynx?"

The Shinx nodded, wincing as he rubbed the bump, "I'm fine, I guess, no harm done." He looked at Bolt and his scarf, giving him a curious look, "Who're you again?"

Bolt straightened, giving a mock salute to him and smiling, some kind of alteration in his voice cutting into his words, "I'm Bolt! I'm Cynder's apprentice from the far-off United island Kingdoms of Virostan, also known as the Colony Islands! They're ruled by Queen Vespiqueen! They're a fair distance away from here, but they're not really out of the way. I came here to learn to be a Rescuea and Explora like Cynder, but he doesn't really take me out much. A lot of reading is involved..." His ears flattened, "So much reading..." He seemingly perked up again, "So tell me where you're from Sphynx!"

Sphynx though, shrugging and pawing at the medallion around his neck, "I'm not at all sure, I only remember waking up on a beach and knowing my name and that... I'm not supposed to be a pokemon, but a human."

Bolt's eyes widened and he nearly stepped back, "H-Human?! But-"

Sphynx growled, "I know. But Cynder trusted me and that's why I'm here and not stuck on the beach like a weirdo" He sighed and flopped back down onto the small bed. "So for now I'm here with you both."

Bolt nodded, straightening his scarf, "Well by all means you're welcome here"

Sphynx gave a brief thanks to him before, from across the room, Cynder began to awaken. The Cyndaquil sat up an hopped off his bed, waddled over to them and said gruffly, "Morning"

"G'Morning!" Bolt said with a smile. Sphynx gave a blunt nod an jumped off the bed, stretching and popping his back.

Cynder looked at Sphynx, "Tired?" He was met with a nod again, "Well wake up, I'm gonna take you on a tour de la town today. So... You do whatever you must" He waddled over to the scarf rack and grabbed the yellow one again along with his bag. Sphynx groaned, knocking his head against the bed once and pulling at his face. He sighed, simply sitting down and playing with the medallion. Cynder looked at him curiously, "What's that?"

Sphynx shrugged, "I'm not sure, some sort of charm."

Cynder made a sound. "Well, lets go, I can show you around and then we can possibly go help someone if there's time" The Shinx walked over to him and they started for the door

"Wait!" Bolt shrieked, bouncing over to them. He secured a pouch around his waist. "Can I please come with you?"

Cynder sighed, "No, maybe next ti-"

He interjected "But you said that last time I asked! And the time before that and the time before that and th-"

"Bolt be quiet! You're making me look bad!" Cynder yelled.

Sphynx looked at Bolt, "Well you can come with me."

"What?!" Cynder's eyed darted to the dark coloured pokemon.

Bolt's eyes sparkled in anticipation, "Really Sphynx?"

"Yep!" He barked, smiling from ear to ear. "You may not be able to go with Cynder because he's being mean, but you can come with me"

"But he's technically still coming with me!" Cynder hissed. Sphynx laughed quietly and simply walked out the door with Bolt on his tail. "Sphynx! C'mon!" He sighed and ran after them.

The trio met at the part of town closest to them, Cynder standing at the front of them all. "This is the Town and Market, where the shops are, the usual." He started pointing around, first gesturing to a colourful stand with two pokemon standing behind it, "Those are the Kelceon, they sell orbs, TM's, gummies and such. They're both nice pokemon." He gestured to another, the stand coloured blue and grey, "That's Rampardos, he breaks open boxes that are found in dungeons for the explorers" He started to walk farther into town, the other two pokemon behind him.

Bolt pointed to a small pink building, "That's where Chansey is! She takes care of Pokemon eggs that you find and also recruits others to your team! She's a really sweet pokemon" He said cheerfully.

Cynder nodded gesturing to another building, darker coloured and seemingly made of stone, "That's the training dojo where Machoke is. Its somewhere to go to get stronger and train against specific types of pokemon." They continued walking, gaining a few hellos as they walked by others. Cynder gestured to another building, back and purple with a large diamond-like object on the roof, "That's the bank, run by Sableye. He kinda freaks me out with his weird speaking pattern... And he's just a weird pokemon type in general..." He gained a look of fear on his face momentarily but shook his head.

He turned to Sphynx an Bolt, "I wanna show you something Sphynx. C'mon." He said smiling and started to walk to a path away from the town, not leading to the beach. The trio walked quietly, Cynder occasionally making noises as he walked and one of the others fur making zapping noises. They came to a large cliff, a few bushes and sets of binoculars around the edge. Cynder walked over and grabbed one, looking through them across the water and making small noises as he did so. Sphynx and Bolt exchanged a glance before looking back at him. Sphynx sat next to Cynder, who held the binoculars out in front of him. The electric pokemon fumbled with them before eventually balancing them on his muzzle. He peered though them an saw a small island in the way distance, surrounded by fog. "That's Maric Island. Its said to be an island that only a select few can reach, home to large dungeons filled with treasure." He smiled, looking into the ocean at the island as Sphynx removed the binoculars an watched him. "The select few that can reach there are special, proved them selves as explorers and friends and are fairly well known. Its my dream to go there, but at this rate..." He sighed. After a few moments he straightened up and looked at them, "Well lets go. We gotta go help someone again today."

The other two nodded and the trio made their way back to town, heading along the main road back to the base. Just off to the side were two very large wooden boards, covered in pieces of paper. Pokemon surrounded them, occasionally grabbing papers and walking towards a path with them. The trio approached them after pushing their way up front. A Dugtrio was waiting by it, reading the papers over carefully. He looked at Cynder, glancing quickly to Sphynx and Bolt before returning his attention. "Off to do another rescue Cynder?"

The fire pokemon nodded, "Yeah. There any easy and quick jobs up there today?"

"I'll look, give me a few minutes Cynder" He said and stared at the boards.

Sphynx looked them over, then to Cynder. "What're these?" He asked with anticipation in his eyes.

Cynder made a kind of happy sound and said, "These are the request boards, one is for pokemon requesting assistance in finding lost objects, lost pokemon, requesting guidance through a dungeon, and such and so. The other board is the police board for hunting down and catching wanted criminals, thieves, bandits and pokemon and such."

Dugtrio looked at him, "There's one right at the bottom left that should be easy for you and your companions to complete. Finding a Marill and returning him to his mother."

Cynder grabbed the paper and handed it to Bolt. "Thanks Dugtrio." He turned to Sphynx and  
Bolt, "This one should be easy for the two of you to complete. The poor guy is in the cave above the Beach Cave. The pokemon are stronger, so be careful."

Bolt smiled and nodded, "Yes sir!" He started for the beach with Sphynx right behind him, laughing happily.

"You want a job or are you going home?" The Dugtrio asked. Cynder nodded and grabbed a paper he had seen earlier.

"This one seems easy enough. I'll be back at least by the time Sphynx and Bolt get back." He looked at the paper once more and stuffed it in his bag. Quietly, he walked away.

_**0-o-0**_

Sphynx and Bolt stood at the cave's entrance, one excited about having a mission and one hoping they don't mess up.

"That's a giant cave..." Sphynx muttered.

Bolt nodded in agreement and started to walk in. "Yeah, but lets go! We don't wanna let Cynder down!" Sphynx nodded and followed the excited yellow ball. The walls of the cave were tall and a dark greyish purple, the occasional water dwelling plant growing up the side. A thin layer of water coated the flow, salt visibly thick in it with the occasional piece of driftwood in a room. The sent of the waterlogged pokemon hung heave in the air, causing Sphynx's nose to cringe at it. They kept a steady pace all the while.

"Hey Bolt?" Sphynx piped up after a little bit.

Bolt turned to him, ears perked up straight, "Yeah Sphynx?"

"Why does Cynder never let you come with him?"

Bolt's ears immediately flattened and he played with the end of his scarf, "Well... I guess its because he doesn't trust me, even though I've been here for almost a year." They climbed down a set of stairs, "I think its because of the first rescue I went on with him. We were in a dungeon where there were mostly grass and flying type pokemon, looking for a Flygon that had gotten lost twenty floors down in the process of going through it himself. Well when we got to the floor he was on, we walked into a monster house, a room in a dungeon where lots of Pokemon appear at once." He picked up a stone off the ground and examined it carefully, noting a sparkle in it. He thought nothing of it and simply threw it.

Sphynx watched the rock carefully as it landed, splashing and spewing salt around. "What happened in the room?"

Bolt was silent for a moment. With a deep breath he continued. "Well... I was scared and instinctively used my Discharge to try to rid of them, but it was a bit too powerful from not using any moves until then. It cleared the monster house easy, but ended up fainting Cynder and the Flygon and hurting them in the process. The Flygon was grateful, but I think he doesn't like us..."

Sphynx's ears flattened, "I'm sorry about that Bolt..." They walked down another flight of stairs silently, time passing slowly. They proceeded down another flight of steps, landing on the last floor of the dungeon. The small blue pokemon sat on the floor, crying and shivering in fear.

With quick steps the electric types ran to it, Sphynx kneeling in front of it. "Hey little guy, don't be afraid. I'm Sphynx, that's Bolt." The tyke stood up nervously, Sphynx rising after. "We're Rescuers, and we're here to bring you back to your Mom."

The Marill looked at him, glancing briefly at Bolt who was beaming with happiness, then returned his attention to Sphynx, "Y-You return me to my Mommy?"

Sphynx nodded and gently patted the top of his head, "Yes, you'll be safe with her again. For now, lets walk you back, alright?" The Marill nodded. Sphynx slowly started to walk back out, the shaking blue pokemon next to him.

Bolt bounced over to them, smiling at the Marill, "Hey, lil guy, how'd you get down here anyway?"

The Marill thought for a moment, "I-I was playin' on the beach with Mommy, a-an' she went to go get a berry to eat, an' some pokemon came over, a-an' the next I remember is that I was dow' there..."

"What were the pokemon like?" Sphynx inquired.

"I-I dunno, but they were dark c-coloured." He shivered.

Sphynx nodded, thinking little of it, "Alright, lets return you to your Mom." They rushed up the levels, the water splashing at their feet as they did so and quickly they returned to the surface. Sphynx and Bolt helped the Marill to stable ground, telling him that he was going to be fine and all the like. With several deep breaths, the small pokemon regained his composure and looked at the two, "Thank you for savin' me. Mama's gonna be happy in't she?"

Sphynx gave a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, she'll be really happy"

Bolt jumped in excitement, "Lets get you home then!" He giggled and ran towards the town, Marill and Sphynx right on his heels. They quickly ran to the board. "Marill's Mom?" Bolt called.

An Azumarill ran over to them, eyes widening at the sight of Marill "My baby! You returned him!" She quickly scooped up the small pokemon in her arms and hugged him, to which he returned. She looked at Sphynx and Bolt, "Oh however can I thank you?"

Bolt began to speak, "Well..."

"You don't have to give us anything, miss Azumarill." Sphynx interrupted. "All the reward I need is seeing a child reunited with his family." Bolt looked extremely puzzled, but finally registered what had happened and gave a brief nod in agreement. "Lets go find Cynder, Bolt" The yellow pokemon nodded and they parted from the crowd, hearing the mother still fret over her son as they parted. They found Cynder returning an orb to a pokemon, who thanked him and promptly paid him what they felt was right for the orb's return. Cynder turned and approached the two pokemon.

"So," He started, "Did you do it?" Sphynx smiled and gestured to the reunited Marill and Azumarill, causing a smile to spread across Cynder's face. "So you actually did it. No problems along the way?"

"Nope. Just an excited Bolt and a scared Marill. It was pretty much a calm run though. Though, he did say something about some dark pokemon going over to him before waking up in the dungeon." Sphynx said, reiterating the words the Marill said.

"What was the reward?" He asked, some glimmer in his eyes.

Sphynx laughed quietly before speaking, "The reward was seeing the mother and her kid united. We don't need any greater reward than that."

Cynder seemed slightly disappointed. He pondered over the words spoken by Sphynx and finally speaking, "Yeah, I suppose you're right about that." He glanced at the sky. "Its getting late, we should go home" He said, shaking himself out and stretching. "Lets go." The trio headed for their home, all standing in a row.

Something bumped into Sphynx, who turned to see a Croagunk, who he bumped into, a Crobat and a Serviper. The Croagunk glared icily at him, sending a shiver down his small spine. "Watch where you goin' punk."

Sphynx turned back towards the way they were walking, "I was watching where I was going, you just weren't paying attention."

The Croagunk grabbed him by the tail and spun him around, causing the small pokemon to yelp in pain, "Look a'me when I'm talkin' t'ya! I watch were I go. You wasn't watchin', 'erefore you's a liar an' wasn't watchin'. I think you ran int'me on purpose."

Sphynx got a look of confusion and anger on his face, "Why would I do that? I don't even know who you are!"

"Watch you tone!" The Croagunk hissed. Sphynx stepped back, "We Team Toxic, an' we don't take kindly t'people all up in our biz. So why don' you jus' shut you trap and skedaddle along you dumb merry way an' leave the rescuin' up t'us." The Crobat and Serviper nodded in agreement behind him.

Cynder jumped in front of Sphynx, "Why don't you go bother someone you're own size, jerk!"

The Crobat hovered next to the Croagunk, "Leave you ugly long snout out of it!" With that, it bashed him in the nose with its wing, causing him to tumble back into Bolt.

"Cynder!" Sphynx shrieked, heading towards him. The Croagunk stomped on the star of his tail, causing a loud yowl of pain. Some pokemon around them started to stare.

"I said look a'me when I talkin'! Who you think you are some 'hot shot' _importante_ pokemon?" The Croagunk let out a puff of poison onto Cynder's nose. "I don' like you; disrespectful, rude, startin' things!"

Sphynx attempted to pull his tail away, only to have it crushed more. He yelped, then looked the remainder of Team Toxic. The two other members were heading towards Cynder and Bolt, "I'm not starting anything! You bumped into me, you started this whole mess, I didn't do anything!"

"You wanna fight, punk? Because that's what you're about to get!" The Croagunk kicked Sphynx down, rendering him breathless for the moment. The poison pokemon prepared a move, when a voice shrieked.

"STOP!" Bolt compressed himself as small as he could, stretching as electricity shot down, burning circles into the ground around the five other pokemon. They froze, unable to move in fear of another electric burst being released. Bolt was panting, his ragged breath ripping the silence and making the atmosphere dark, "Let. My. Friend. Go." He managed to wheeze out.

The Croagunk lifted his foot off of Sphynx's tail, allowing him to run over to Cynder and help him up. The remainder of Team Toxic backed away from the trio, turned tail and ran. Cynder and Sphynx stood back up. The Fire pokemon turned to Bolt, "B-Bolt... Thank you f-"

Bolt interrupted him, "I know what you're going to say, and I'm going to just say you're welcome, and that you should bring me on more explorations an adventures."

They laughed quietly while Sphynx watched Team Toxic leave, disappearing in the distance. He rushed for the base, much to Cynder and Bolt's surprise. They hurried after him to find him sitting in the middle of the floor, doing absolutely nothing. Bolt slowly walked over to him, "Sphynx?"

Sphynx let out a roar, one that echoed and bounced around the room. Bolt jumped back and hid behind Cynder. "I HATE Pokemon like that! They think they can just do whatever they want, start fights because they think they're stronger! They talk tough but fight weak more than likely! I hated Humans like that too!" At the word Humans, Cynder and Bolt exchanged a glance, each thinking the same thing, wondering if he was remembering. Sphynx let out another weaker roar before falling forwards onto his face.

"Sphynx?!" Cynder yelled, running over to him. Sphynx had passed out, the anger inside him bursting out in his roars, energy bouncing off his skin and fur. Lack of energy put him out. He sighed, "Bolt, help me carry Sphynx to his bed... He blacked out." Bolt gave a subtle nod and helped him pick Sphynx up, both managing to lay him on his bed. Bolt grabbed a blanket from a nearby shelf and draped it over him. The blue pokemon made a noise and rolled over, medallion clinking as he did. Bolt trudged over to his bed and grabbed a large book off the shelf above him. He flopped down, opening it to a familiar page and reading. Cynder tugged off his bandanna and placed it on the rack with the others. He looked out the window, watching as the sky grew suddenly dark and lightning split it down the middle. Reminded of what happened, he retired to his bed, curling himself into a ball and giving a small breath, "Night Bolt." He murmured.

"Goodnight sir" Bolt said, returning to his book. Cynder listened to the rain for a bit before he slipped into the darkness that is sleep. Bolt did not sleep yet, however. He continued to read for several more hours before falling asleep with his face pressed between the pages of the dusty, century old book.

_**0-o-0**_

_As a note, the accent that Bolt has is a very basic English/UK accent._

_If you enjoyed please favourite and follow the story and myself, as well as TatOneVodkaBottle, and I will see you all next time._

**~ViraLayton**


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